The Bureau of African affairs was even worse—officials could not provide complete files for any of eight requested contracts worth nearly $35 million. In Afghanistan, two task orders worth more than $1 billion, were incomplete.

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf called the unaccounted-for $6 billion a "bureaucratic issue" that the department is addressing.

In one IG investigation, a contract file lacked documentation reflecting that the $52 million contract had been modified and awarded to "a company owned by the spouse of a contractor employee." In another, a file for a contract valued at $100 million "was not properly maintained and for a period of time was hidden" by the contracting officer.